Judgment of the General Court Seventh Chamber, 25 October 2023, BNP Paribas Public Sector v SRB, T-688/21

• Date: 25 October 2023
• Year: 2023

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account all the circumstances in which the contract was concluded, the national court could conclude

that the acceleration clause was unfair if it finds that the seller or supplier m ay, under that clause,

exercise its right to claim early repayment of the outstanding balance due under the loan without

taking into account the extent of the consumer’s failure to fulfil obligations in relation to the amount

granted and the duration of the loan.

In those circumstances, the Court ruled that Directive 93/13, read in the light of the Charter,

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precludes national legislation under which the judicial review of the unfairness of an acceleration

clause contained in a consumer credit agreement does not take account of the proportionality of the

option given to the seller or supplier to exercise his or her right under that clause, in the light of

specific criteria. Those include criteria linked, in particular, to the extent of the consumer’s failure to

fulfil his or her contractual obligations, such as the amount of the instalments that have not been paid

in relation to the total amount of credit and the duration of the contract, as well as the possibility that

implementation of the clause would result in the seller or supplier being able to recover the sums due

under that clause by selling the consumer’s family home without any judicial process.

VIII. JUDGMENT PREVIOUSLY DELIVERED

1. ECONOMIC AND MONETARY POLICY: SINGLE RESOLUTION

MECHANISM

Judgment of the General Court (Seventh Chamber), 25 October 2023, BNP Paribas Public

Sector v SRB, T-688/21

Link to the full text of the judgment

Arbitration clause – Single resolution mechanism for credit institutions and certain investment firms

(SRM) – Single Resolution Fund (SRF) – Contracts concerning the irrevocable payment commitment and

the collateral arrangements – Rejection of the request for return of collateral linked to ex ante

contributions provided in the form of irrevocable payment commitments – Institution whose authorisation

has been withdrawn – Article 7(3) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/81 – Non-contractual liability –

Unjust enrichment

The applicant, the company BNP Paribas Public Sector SA, was an authorised French credit institution

until 24 March 2021, the date on which it obtained the withdrawal of its authorisation from the

European Central Bank (ECB). For the contribution periods from 2016 to 2021, it contributed to the

Single Resolution Fund (SRF) for at least part of its ex ante contributions by means of an irrevocable

payment commitment. To that end, it entered into irrevocable payment commitments with the Single

Resolution Board (SRB) for each of those periods (‘the 2016-2021 IPCs’). On 1 April 2021, the applicant

informed the SRB that, at its request, the ECB had withdrawn its authorisation and requested

information from the SRB with a view to obtaining repayment of the collateral linked to the

irrevocable payment commitments entered into.

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Articles 7 and 38 of the Charter.